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Published: 1843

Total Pages: 4

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Longfellow thanks Freiligrath for his two letters, but he explains that he has been deprived entirely of the use of his eyes and by an affection of the nerves. Refers to his recent marriage to Fanny Appleton and his being "idle as a lord" and having "some idea of what a man's life must be who can neither read nor write." He has planted some acorns and "as the oak grows for a thousand years, you may imagine a whole line of little Longfellows, like the shadowy monarchs in Macbeth, walking under their branches, through countless generations, 'til the crack of doom.'" He shares Freiligrath's ideas about translations, and mentions that he is just beginning a volume of specimens of foreign poetry. Asks Freiligrath to thank Simrock for his Macbeth. Only the signature of this letter is in Longfellow's hand.